Reality-Competition Program

“It’s pretty much how I introduce myself. I am now Emmy Award nominee Thomas Middleditch,” jokes Thomas Middleditch as we chat via webcam (watch above) about his first Emmy nomination as Best Comedy Actor for “Silicon Valley.” He adds, “I wasn’t expecting it at all. It came out of left field. I’m happy the show as well got the nod. It’s cool. It’s a team effort. It’s always nice to get a little recognition, but I’d be more than happy if that was all it was.” On this HBO hit series, he plays quiet and neurotic tech mastermind Richard Hendricks and is the first of the cast to receive Emmy recognition. The show is competing for Best Comedy Series for the third straight year as has two bids each for directing and writing.

Middleditch submitted this year’s fifth episode, “The Empty Chair,” to Emmy judges and admits he was thinking a bit strategically with his choice: “Other little bits that are kind of my favorite bits throughout the season are included in the show package,” referring to the six episodes producers submitted in the series category. He adds, “With ‘Empty Chair’ Richard’s desires are laid out in front of him. The seat is open again and he desperately wants it to be him and he not only falls on his own sword but takes the sword out, puts it on the ground and then slowly lowers himself onto it.”

While the actor may play the quiet, nervous nerd type on TV, he says he’s not so much like his character. However, his relationships with his cast mates may be truer to TV life: “Richard and Erlich (T.J. Miller) have a shockingly similar relationships with me and T.J. Same with Richard and Jared (Zach Woods), me and Zach. In a way that’s how we’re similar.”

The rest of our exclusive interview with Middleditch includes his thoughts on which parts of the show have improved, what creator Mike Judge caught Middleditch and the other cast members doing, and what was with that horse sex scene!

Will Middleditch be able to defeat competitors Anthony Anderson (“black-ish”), Aziz Ansari (“Master of None”), Will Forte (“The Last Man on Earth”), William H. Macy (“Shameless”), and Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”)? Be sure to make your Emmy predictions right here. You’ll compete to win our contest prizes for best picks — $500 (first place), $300 (second place) and $200 (third place) in Amazon gift certificates — a place of honor on our leaderboard and a starring role in next year’s Top 24 Users (the two dozen folks who do the best predicting this year’s Emmys). Be sure to read our contest rules.